Hector Lombard officially joins ranks of UFC middleweights

Bellator Fighting Championships will have to find a new middleweight champion as current (soon to be ex) title-holder Hector Lombard has agreed to terms with the UFC. Lombard’s contract recently expired, while Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney confirmed last week the Cuban judoka had been offered a contract by the Zuffa team. Rebney promised quick action regarding the possibility of matching the deal and lived up to those words.

Lombard confirmed news of the signing via his Twitter account on Tuesday, writing, “I am in the UFC it is official.

A former Olympian, Lombard has not lost since 2006. The 34-year old currently holds a record of 31-2-1 including a recent victory over Trevor Prangley. He is the only fighter to hold Bellator’s middleweight title and seventeen of his career victories have come by way of knockout with another seven submission triumphs.

It remains unknown who Lombard will debut against in the UFC, though there is a host of worthy candidates if he remains in the middleweight division.

PHOTO CREDIT – BELLATOR

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MMATraining Take: Lombard would make for another strong contender in the middleweight division, as many have wanted to see how he would fare against the likes of Anderson Silva, Michael Bisping, or Chael Sonnen. Another possible opponent could be Jake Shields, who has talked about going back to middleweight if the right fight was offered to him.